Love the Lord your God, listen to His voice and hold fast to Him, for the Lord is your life! Deut. 30:20

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Kansas Adventure, November, Part 1

For our November trip, we went to Southeast Kansas. And we decided to combine it with a visit to our son in Fayetteville and daughter in Birmingham. We took along Lortab, the hospital pharmacy mascot. The story goes that some nurses once called the pharmacists "weasels". The pharmacists got a weasel and named him Lortab. You can "friend" Lortab on Facebook. He has 200 friends! People take him on many of their vacations. He has been on lots of trips - Alaska and all over the US including the White House, down to the bottom of the Grand Canyon, Italy, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Mexico... So, Lortab was on our trip on roads less traveled. First stop - Beaumont, KS.

Pilots taxi their planes right up to this restaurant. Leaving Beaumont on gravel road, you will come upon the windmills. You can see these from Highway 400. Over 140 of them! And there were more over in another section.

The old and the new

We kept traveling on gravel backroads. Our newly washed car was not so pretty looking. Some pretty interesting road names, such as Rattlesnake road. There are hunting lodges all over in this area such as the one below or Buck Brush Adventures, or Running Rooster Hunting Lodge. I'm not a hunter, but I hear that they come from New York State and all over to hunt around here. We drove south of Beaumont to Latham and on to Cambridge before connecting with 160.We came across some interesting towns. Almost ghost towns. The porch below was intriguing. I think it would be fun to make a photo book of all the various porches in America; those who decorate their porches with sofas, washing machines, (donkeys) etc This town looked almost dead. The population was not listed in the Road Atlas, but it boasted 3 churches!As you pass through Moline, you will see a sign for the oldest swinging bridge in Kansas. We drove the short distance to see it. It was built in 1904.

Because of the drought we have had this year, the waterfalls were dry.

The southeast area of Kansas was once heavily mined; coal, lead and zinc. Since the mining era, thousands of acres of mined area has been turned over to the Kansas Dept. of Wildlife and Parks. If you decide to travel in this area, be careful traveling on Highway 160. The speed varies from 55 to 65 and often you don't realize it. Ooops.